Shelter is a gay movie (yeah...i guess you now have the option to read on or...whatever)

It depicts the life of a talented painter and high-school grad (Zach) living in the ghetto with his dad, older sister Jeannie and her 5-year-old son Cody.

Here's reasons why its great:

1. It portrays the fullfilled hopes of every coming out gay person: Acceptance. Zach's girlfriend, best friend, and even jerk-of-a-sister treat him no differently when they find out. Yes, yes, this is complete fantasy compared to typical real-life situations, but its great to see what it would actually be like.

2. Family. Cody probably ends up getting raised by Zach and Shaun. Although when Jeannie is leaving she says that she doesn't want him getting raised by "fags", Zach tells her that this is the best thing that could happen for Cody. The ending scene fortifies this, showing Cody at his happiest.

3. No explicit scenes. Nearly all gay movies i've come accross always attempt to seem like pseudoporn movies, portraying gays as hopelessly promiscuous characters. Not so with this one. This one keeps its basic, focuses on its themes, and doesn't alienate any viewers based to their particular inclinations. They give a very tasteful sex scene, so you can expect no nudities in this one..

4. Ok, this is strange but i love that the characters were all portrayed by straight actors - something the completely surprised me when i looked it up afterwards. Zach (Trevor Wright) and Shaun (Brad Rowe) are totally straight in real life. Here's a picture of them from Hunk Du Jour.

I have a lot of respect for ANY actor/actress that can portray a sexuality that isn't their own so convincingly. Normally if you look close enough you can tell that its forced, but in Shelter Trevor and Brad were totally on point. Eye contact, which is probably the most difficult thing to do during, didn't betray that they were acting.